Background and aims Although plant-soil feedback has been suggested as a mechanism that drives the success of invasive plants, studies that investigate differences in the intensity of plant-soil feedback among native and invasive populations of the same species are still lacking. However, such knowledge is important because it can provide an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the spread of a species. Rorippa austriaca is a potentially invasive species -a successful range expander in Europe.Methods We compared the plant-soil feedback of R. austriaca in populations from its native and invasive range. We explored both intraspecific feedback as well as feedback on a co-occurring grass species. Results Our results revealed a strong negative feedback effect as a consequence of soil conditioning by R. austriaca from the native range. On the contrary, a negative feedback effect was not observed for invasive R. austriaca. Interestingly, R. austriaca from the invasive range had a higher biomass than native R. austriaca. Conclusion Our results might be explained by pathogen accumulation and soil modification by native R. austriaca, which had strong intra-and interspecific effects that seemed to be lost in the invasive R. austriaca. The loss of negative intraspecific plantsoil feedback and the increased growth of the invasive population may contribute to its successful range expansion. In spite of its increased growth, the co-occurring grass species is expected to successfully coexist with the invasive R. austriaca.

Questions:What is the effect of grazing on seedling recruitment and seedling establishment? To what extent is grazing dependent on local habitat conditions? Location:Cesk y Kras (Czech Karst), central Bohemia, Czech Republic.Methods: In 2005, grazing was reintroduced on formerly grazed dry grassland. tion on pastures based on a larger number of seedlings may be misleading if the species are limited by establishmentbut not recruitmentas at our study site. Furthermore, our findings show that varying habitat conditions on small spatial scales can modify the impact of management on seedling recruitment and establishment.